The following pages were written by Anne Maze, a lady that Justin Kipplen met en route to Marine boot camp in Parris Island. The article speaks for itself and Justin’s Christian heart. He has endeared himself to Ms. Maze as he will to you when you read this article.

Please keep Justin Kipplen and our other service members in your daily prayers.

On the Delta flight from Detroit to Atlanta today, I had the most delightful seat companion-a young man of 19 years of age-his first flight. Because of my husband Jay’s navigating and walking difficulties, the flight attendant suggested we take the window seat and middle seat, although he was supposed to have the aisle seat. When this young man arrived, he didn’t know how the seat assignment letters went, and I explained that the letter “F” was the window seat and apologized that Jay was sitting there as it was very difficult for him to get up. The young man was very courteous and said not to worry, he didn’t like heights, had never been on a plane before, and it didn’t matter to him. I introduced myself as Anne and he said his name was Justin. He began reading intensely from a tiny Bible. When the safety talk video started, I touched his arm and pointed to the screen in the aisle, so he could watch it. Later, I remarked to him that his small Bible reminded me of the one my former father-in-law had from being in the Army in World War 1, that I always admired on his coffee table. I would handle it gently and look through the tiny, but readable script, with his name written on the inside cover. He was on in years (early 90’s) and sickly, and I wanted to tell him that I would love to have it sometime, but never did. On my next visit (he lived 500 miles away), I noticed a lot of things missing including the World War 1 Bible. His daughter told me that one day he had called someone up to come over to buy some things (he sent her away for the morning), and that was that. It was gone. I was so disappointed, as I would have cherished it for years along with his memory. He passed away within a year. Justin seamed astounded that this Bible was available for World War 1 servicemen so long ago. Since I’m a 72-year-old-great-grandmother, it’s not that big of a jump!

Justin and I chatted easily for a while, and I thought what a nice young man; his parents must be proud of him. He said he was from a small town near Toledo, on his way to Parris Island for three months of boot camp. He had joined the Marines and knew his life would change as soon as he and his other friends got off the bus there-they would be yelled at right away! They were only allowed to have the clothes on their back, $10 for expenses en route, and their ID. They needed nothing else to begin this new uncertain phase of their lives.

A while later he pulled a beautiful, larger, gold-gilded edged Bible out of his pocket and mentioned that his grandfather had given it to him, and proudly showed me some of the favorite verses his grandfather had marked up. He obviously cherished it and was certain he would have no problems taking that with him into boot camp. After I leafed through it and admired it and gave it back to him, he turned to me and gave me the new, tiny Gideon Bible that had been issued to him. He said he would like me to have it, to take the place of the one I had wanted so many years ago. My eyes misted with near tears and I was touched to the core that he was so insightful. Wondrously I accepted this gift, on the condition that he would inscribe it to me along with the date. He did. This, I will cherish along with the memory of Justin, a young man with his eyes to the future and his faith in God.

Meanwhile, I had been fingering a sheet of paper from my purse that I was reading on the flight, Pray with Silent Unity, and wondered whether it was appropriate for me to give it to Justin. It had Unity’s famous Prayer for Protection at the end of it. After he gave me his Bible, that ended my indecision. I showed him the page (folded and refolded many times over), explaining that this Prayer for Protection was written by a Unity minister for the troops going into World War II. I quietly read the prayer to him. He liked it. I also told him that the phone number at the bottom of the page was for Silent Unity, where anyone could call for prayer help any time of the day or night, and someone would pray with him for whatever need he had at the time. And that he didn’t even have to memorize the phone numbers-just remember 1-800-NOW-Pray. I folded the page, gave it to him, and ask if he would like to keep it in his grandfather’s Bible. He did, and tucked it away in it’s pages.

Prayer for Protection
The light of God surrounds us
The love of God enfolds us
The power of God protects us
The presence of God watches over us
Wherever we are, God is, and all is well.

I am going to say this prayer for Justin every day (the Light of God surrounds you, Justin) and pray that he returns to his family safely.

Before the flight ended, I told Justin about an e-mail that was going around. Some e-mails suggest that when we see men and women in uniform, such as at the airport, that we should go up to them and thank them for what they are doing for us and our country, and that we appreciate them. This particular e-mail had a video attached to it. Since most people (including myself) are reticent about approaching  strangers and talking to them, the video demonstrated a gesture that one could do to show the service men and women that we appreciate them. When you pass them by, slowly put your right hand on your heart( as when you say the Pledge of Allegiance). Nod your head, or catch their eye.

I put my hand on my heart and told Justin that I was proud to be the first American to tell him that I appreciate what he is doing for our country, and hoped when he was in uniform, he would see a lot of people saluting him in this way.      

Anne Maze